East wall 10/26/08

[jeff9062]

2 tank dive off the east wall, 1st dive to 60ish feet and with
the viz going down to 12-15ft and the surface getting more
choppy than the past week, it was still a great dive! Water
temp early morning was 60'F at depth fallowing 58'F towards
the afternoon, the 1st dive we did not see any large fish anywhere.
Just a bunch of snails 1 octo and a large crab, viz was better
mid morning than the afternoon and the 2nd dive we dropped
down to 75'ft. Still no large fish, no squid eggs or squid. :(
I did find this colorful thing that I will post a pic of, it's pretty
amazing something could look like that! Again this weekend
life guards reported very bad diving conditions in the cove,
maybe next week?

[jridg]

That's a Spanish Shawl - really pretty - you find them a lot around here :)

There are some neat bright yellow ones as well that I see a lot in the shores area.

[jeff9062]

Cool, I was trying to figure out what that was!
We got another low fill from OEX... 2600psi :ack2:
So the 2nd dive was a little short, but allowed
us to see that on the way back!

[jridg]

I don't know what the deal is lately - I have been getting light fills from SDUA as well - granted I am using HP 120s - but 3250-3300 is still not 3500......

[jeff9062]

That's what happens when the person filling does not
know what they are doing, I know with 3000psi tanks
they need to over fill them by 200 psi, this allows the leakage
when disconnected to be at the proper pressure.
Also after the hot compressor air cools you end up with
a low fill if filled to 3000 and not 3200!

[cactus]

Are you guys using a digital or analog SPG? Those analog gauges swing in accuracy by about 10%, sometimes more. Also, if the tank comes out hot, the calculation for a cool down is 5psi for every degree F that it cools. So if it cools down 60 degrees (not hard to do when going from a hot tank to cold water), you're looking at a 300 psi decrease right there. Last thought is I once had a tank that the valve needed an overhaul so it would leak down to about 2600 and then stop. Not saying any of these are your issues, but maybe for some folks!

[cactus]

p.s. cool pic by the way!

[jeff9062]

Thanx for the tip, I will check it out and watch the pressure on
my next fill. I know it was not the gauge because we swapped
regs to check it, I did call Oex and will give us 3 free fills next
time in! ;)

[jridg]

I check my fills with an analog checker and then on the SPG when I get ready to 'go'

I have found that my guages agree with eachother so far (SPG and checker) - I know they can get out of wack fairly easily - but so far so good...

[cactus]

that's cool of OEX to offer some free fills. have either of you tried any of the digital air pressure gauges? really bitchin stuff if you ever get a chance. some of the air integrated computers will calculate the amount of time left in your dive according to your depth, tank pressure, and breathing rate! sometimes not thinking is nice...

[jeff9062]

I have never used digital, I'm still working on my drysuit!
That would be very nice... Less hoses, air management... One day!

[jridg]

I recently went away from a digital hoseless computer (ATOM 1.0) because the first ATOM wasn't all that great. I am now using the Vyper 2 - which I love - but I do miss digital SPG and consumption rate - I used an air integrated computer for years and now I am back to an SPG - simply because I want the next one to be hoseless (TX).

[jeff9062]

I just came back from sports chalet in San Marcos, $5 a fill
no matter what tank you have! I gave them an 80 to fill
and checked out @3100psi :D